2016 Château Malartic-Lagravière, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux

2016 Château Malartic-Lagravière, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux

Product: 20161012677
Prices start from £336.00 per case Buying options
2016 Château Malartic-Lagravière, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux

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Available by the case In Bond. Pricing excludes duty and VAT, which must be paid separately before delivery. Storage charges apply.
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6 x 75cl bottle
BBX marketplace BBX 2 cases £336.00
BBX marketplace BBX 1 case £550.00
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Description

What a generous glass of wine. This has an attractive, dark ruby hue, with aromas of black cherries and spice. It is pure, clean, very suave and silky in texture with a polished, kirsch finish, with a hint of dark chocolate. Easy to love.

Blend: Cabernet Sauvignon 53%, Merlot 40%, Cabernet Franc 4%, Petit Verdot 3%

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Critics reviews

Wine Advocate92/100
The 2016 Malartic Lagraviere is blended of 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot. Medium to deep garnet-purple in color, it opens with wild blueberries and black cherries with cassis, bay leaves and dark chocolate nuances plus a hint of charcoal. Medium-bodied with a lively backbone and solid frame of ripe, rounded tannins, it finishes with an herbal lift.
Lisa Perrotti-Brown - 30/11/2018 Read more
Jancis Robinson MW16.5+/20
Lively crimson. Meaty, vegy and with lots of energy on the nose. Then very thick and sweet. Almost too much so for my palate though the richness ratio is certainly impressive. Super-flattering. Sandpaper finish. More depth than the Latour-Martillac. 
Jancis Robinson - 21st April 2017 Read more
Wine Spectator92-95/100
Ripe and pure, with a long, sleek feel to the cassis and warm cherry preserve flavors. Shows a snap of licorice at the end, as well as floral lift throughout. 
James Molesworth - Wine Spectator, April 2017 Read more
James Suckling95-96/100
This is so linear and refined with compacted fruit and superb tannin texture. The length and beauty to this grab you immediately and make you pay attention. Wait and see.
James Suckling - April 2017 Read more
Decanter94/100
This is great, with clear cinnamon and black pepper spicing and lovely upfront impact with coffee and tar edging, black fruits and a very appealing sense of balance. It softens through the mid-palate then lengthens out again on the finish, providing the full architectural experience. The tannins are well placed and careful but need time to soften; this is a wine built with ageing in mind. 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot, aged in 80% new oak. Michel Rolland consults. Drinking Window 2027 - 2045.
Jane Anson - Decanter, 3rd April 2017

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About this WINE

Chateau Malartic Lagraviere

Chateau Malartic Lagraviere

Château Malartic-Lagravière, a Cru Classé de Graves,was previously owned by the Champagne house, Laurent- Perrier - in 1997 it was bought by a Belgian couple, Michele and Alfred-Alexandre Bonnie, whose son and daughter-in-law, Jean-Jacques and Severine, have now assumed control.

There are 47 hectares of under vine, but only 7 of which are dedicated to white grapes, situated on a fine gravel ridge and now almost encroached on by the suburban outgrowth of Léognan. The estate produces high quality reds as well as tiny amounts of Sauvignon Blanc-dominated white wine. The red is a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Franc.

The grapes are fermented partly in wooden vats, partly in stainless steel tanks, and then spend up to 15 months in oak barrels, roughly 50% of which are new. The creation of a second wine, La Réserve de Malartic Rouge (previously known as Le Sillage de Malartic), has been a further aid to the qualitative improvement which has been steadily taking place here over the past decade or so. In recent years no more than 60% of the crop goes into the Grand Vin, far less than back in the early 1990s and testament to the dedication to the highest levels of quality displayed by the new owners.

Their red wines are discreetly elegant, well-balanced that can be austere in youth but, with age, develop complexity and a distinct mineral character that is shared by all the great clarets of Pessac-Léognan.

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Pessac-Leognan

Pessac-Leognan

In 1986 a new communal district was created within Graves, in Bordeaux,  based on the districts of Pessac and Léognan, the first of which lies within the suburbs of the city. Essentially this came about through pressure from Pessac-Léognan vignerons, who wished to disassociate themselves from growers with predominately sandy soils further south in Graves.

Pessac-Léognan has the best soils of the region, very similar to those of the Médoc, although the depth of gravel is more variable, and contains all the classed growths of the region. Some of its great names, including Ch. Haut-Brion, even sit serenely and resolutely in Bordeaux's southern urban sprawl.

The climate is milder than to the north of the city and the harvest can occur up to two weeks earlier. This gives the best wines a heady, rich and almost savoury character, laced with notes of tobacco, spice and leather. Further south, the soil is sandier with more clay, and the wines are lighter, fruity and suitable for earlier drinking.

Recommended Châteaux: Ch. Haut-Brion, Ch. la Mission Haut-Brion, Ch. Pape Clément, Ch Haut-Bailly, Domaine de Chevalier, Ch. Larrivet-Haut-Brion, Ch. Carmes Haut-Brion, Ch. La Garde, Villa Bel-Air.

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Cabernet Sauvignon Blend

Cabernet Sauvignon Blend

Cabernet Sauvignon lends itself particularly well in blends with Merlot. This is actually the archetypal Bordeaux blend, though in different proportions in the sub-regions and sometimes topped up with Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot.

In the Médoc and Graves the percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend can range from 95% (Mouton-Rothschild) to as low as 40%. It is particularly suited to the dry, warm, free- draining, gravel-rich soils and is responsible for the redolent cassis characteristics as well as the depth of colour, tannic structure and pronounced acidity of Médoc wines. However 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wines can be slightly hollow-tasting in the middle palate and Merlot with its generous, fleshy fruit flavours acts as a perfect foil by filling in this cavity.

In St-Emilion and Pomerol, the blends are Merlot dominated as Cabernet Sauvignon can struggle to ripen there - when it is included, it adds structure and body to the wine. Sassicaia is the most famous Bordeaux blend in Italy and has spawned many imitations, whereby the blend is now firmly established in the New World and particularly in California and  Australia.

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